New | Contrarian buy signal: Hong Kong’s retail investors remain wary, and sidelined, as market inches higher, JP Morgan survey
Majority of respondents expect Hang Seng Index to trade below 22,000 in the next six months
Hong Kong retail investors have grown more optimistic about the outlook for Hong Kong stocks, but they remain wary of bolstering investment positions amid concerns of a further weakening of the Chinese economy and a possible US rate increase, JP Morgan said on Monday.
The JP Morgan Investor Confidence Index, a private gauge of Hong Kong investor sentiment for the coming six months, ticked up to 110 in March from 107 in December 2015, according to latest survey results released by JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM).
Conducted in March, the survey rates confidence levels from a survey of 515 retail investors in Hong Kong.
“Investor sentiment has improved as the Hang Seng Index returned to above 20,000 and oil prices recovered from a decade low,” said Marcella Pun, head of retail distribution for JPMAM, at a media briefing in Hong Kong.
Among all sub-indexes, confidence in the value of investment portfolio recorded the biggest increase, up 7 points to 116 in the first quarter. Confidence in the Hang Seng Index also rose 6 points to 117.
However, Amount of Investment Sub-Index, which indicates the desire to bolster positions in the market, registered a slight drop, easing 1 point to 109.
